Today’s employment report for February suggests that the stock market rally that began last September correctly anticipated rebound 2.0 in the post-recession period. Private sector employment rose by a net 222,000 last month, the most since last April and a sharp rise from January’s feeble 68,000 advance. Even better, job growth was widespread across the economy. Only retail trade suffered a setback in the private sector. In short, today’s employment news is good—the best, in fact, in nearly a year.
Daily Archives: March 4, 2011
Strategic Briefing | 3.4.2011 | The Crowding Out Effect On Interest Rates
The theory of “crowding out” predicts that higher government borrowing may force interest rates higher than they otherwise would if the private sector prevailed in the money markets. How does this theory jibe with recent history? Read on for some perspective…
Crowding Out Watch, Updated
Menzie Chinn, Econobrowser | Mar 1
I’m teaching the concept of portfolio crowding out in my intermediate macro course (handout with algebra here) now, and as I was going through the notes, I observed that last I had checked, there was (still!) little evidence of crowding out… Relative to my September post, the ten year TIPS is slightly up, but the five year remains at zero (well, actually negative). This means that whatever upward pressure there is on government interest rates due to the large supply of government debt, it is being offset by low demand from the private sector (or by demand from offshore sources).
A Federal Shutdown Could Derail the Recovery
Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics | Feb 28
While the government spending cuts proposed by House Republicans for this fiscal year mean only modest fiscal restraint, this restraint is meaningful. If fully adopted, the cuts would shave almost 0.5% from real GDP growth in 2011 and another 0.2% in 2012. This wouldn’t be true if the current budget deficits were crowding out private investment, but they aren’t. Business demand for credit has recovered modestly, and households continue to lower their debt obligations. Interest rates also remain extraordinarily low. Some of this is due to the Fed’s credit easing, but global investors also remain willing buyers of U.S. debt even at low interest rates.